Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero sparked off the debate by claiming overseas players are less likely to be awarded penalties than their homegrown counterparts.

Liverpool has also expressed fear that striker Luis Suarez will never win another penalty, as he's become a victim of his reputation for going down easily.

Ferguson admitted Nani made a meal of a challenge in United's 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs at the weekend despite claiming the winger deserved a penalty.

Although Ferguson claimed Nani is not a diver, the United boss did concede that the

increase in diving in the English game had been predominantly down to foreign imports.

"Nani is not the type to dive, I know that. "It was a penalty kick on Saturday. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. The linesman could have helped, but didn't," the Daily Mirror quoted Ferguson, as saying.

"But it's not worth going into that subject, because down the years there have been plenty of players diving - and, you have to say, particularly foreign players," he added. (ANI[5])